A night at the opera would hardly be complete without at least a touch of
drama and seduction.

But the English National Opera’s latest adaptation of Die Fledermaus is likely to raise eyebrows after bringing champagne-fuelled sex scenes, Freudian fantasies and bondage to the stage.

The production, set in “hedonistic” Thirties Vienna is being advertised as “opera, but not as you know it”.

It will feature ladies stripped to their silk underwear, with a “dangerous, sexy” feel, as the protagonists move from the confines of a repressed Victorian marriage to a sexually liberated life.

The production by the Olivier Award-winning director Christopher Alden forms part of a long-running drive by the English National Opera to attract younger, “open-minded” audiences and sell tickets after a period of significant financial difficulty.

Among recent measures to bring in a new generation include “Opera Undressed”, where audiences are invited to special casual-dress sittings where the audience is encouraged to wear jeans, and Secret Seats; a ballot for cheap tickets in any part of the theatre.

The new production was described as “rich, racy, and randy” after a preview in Canada, and was also influenced by black and white Hollywood films.

Johann Strauss Jnr’s operetta was first performed in 1874 Vienna.

A spokesman for the English National Opera said: “Die Fledermaus is set in hedonistic 1930s Vienna at the height of Freud’s popularity.

“Suppressed sexual desires come to life in a spectacular costume party as the guests emerge as Freudian fantasies from the dreams of Rosalinde, a woman caught in a dysfunctional marriage to convicted fraudster Eisenstein.”

Alden, the director, told The Daily Telegraph the show would be “kind of dangerous and sexy” but would pale in comparison with scenes regularly shown on television and in film.

He added that the ENO was known for its “adventurous, open-minded audiences” who had been “educated over the years” to expect the unexpected.

“Compared with the things you can see on TV these days, this is first date stuff,” he added. “In its own era it [the original production] was probably shocking as well.”

He described the “dangerous” and “sexy” atmosphere of the show as akin to that of a New Year’s Eve party, where those involved could stay up all night with a sense that “anything could happen”.

“It begins as a buttoned-up Victorian marriage, and it’s about them moving beyond that and opening up to each other as deeper, erotic partners,” he said, before the “pendulum swings back towards repression”, he said.

Alden added that those working in modern opera spent a lot of time “thinking about how to engage younger generations in this art form, which is, as the years roll by, becoming seen more and more as an art form from the past”.

Sung in English, Die Fledermaus will open at the London Coliseum today and will continue throughout October.

The principal role of Gabriel von Eisenstein will be taken by Tom Randle, while American mezzo-soprano Jennifer Holloway plays the role of Prince Orlofsky.